How the Concept of “Motion” Distracts Us from Real Progress

Action is often confused with motion.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Have you ever been incredibly excited to start a new project? You have a bright idea and excitedly start planning your next steps.

Two weeks later, and you start planning the specifics, far into the future.

It feels like you’re being productive, but you haven’t actually taken a step toward your goal yet.

The truth is, planning is a form of motion, not action.

Planning without doing anything is an example of fake productivity used to mask the fact that nothing substantial is getting done.

Plans are useful, but motion without action is useless: no matter how much you plan, you can’t make progress with just motion.

For example, when you read to learn, you gain knowledge. I personally consider the act of reading “motion,” while using the knowledge you gained would be considered “action.” (Of course, this is only if you are reading for the sake of learning something).

It is easy to get stuck in activities that promote motion because they are often the most exciting. It feels great to plan a day where you wake up at 5 am, work out, and do all your tasks, but actually doing it is not nearly as glorious.